page_title: USS Gonzalez
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: USS Gonzalez / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Atlantic Ocean (Sept. 6, 2003) — The guided missile destroyer USS Gonzalez (DDG-66) underway in the Atlantic Ocean during a work-up exercise before the ship’s scheduled deployment. Gonzalez is assigned to the USS Enterprise (CVN-65) Carrier Strike Group, commanded by Rear Adm. James Stavridis.
context_page_description: USS Gonzalez is an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer in the United States Navy. She is named for Sergeant Alfredo Cantu Gonzalez, a Medal of Honor recipient in the Vietnam War.
context_section_description: The warship took part in Operation Allied Force, firing Tomahawk cruise missiles at Serbian targets in 1999. She also assisted a cruise ship, Seabourn Spirit, after an abortive attack by pirates off the coast of Somalia in 2005.
  On 1 March 2006, she rescued the crew of an Iranian ship, whose engine and rudder were broken down since 18 February. The Iranian crew were returned to Iran. She was involved in the Action of 18 March 2006 with suspected pirates, along with the cruiser USS Cape St. George. The two U.S. warships exchanged fire with the suspected pirates about 25 nautical miles (46 km) off the coast of Somalia. Initial reports indicated that one suspected pirate was killed and five others wounded.
  On 17 July 2006, CNN reported that Gonzalez would be deployed to help in evacuation efforts of American citizens from Lebanon in the midst of the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict. On 26 July 2006, Frank James of The Chicago Tribune reported on the evacuation efforts of Gonzalez.
caption: Gonzalez in the Atlantic, 2003
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "030906-N-5471P-003 - USS GONZALEZ (DDG-66) - Underway in the Atlantic Ocean the USS GONZALEZ (DDG-66) conducts week long work ups before the ships upcoming six-month deployment.\nUSS GONZALEZ (DDG-66) is part of the Enterprise Carrier Strike Group, commanded by RADM James Stavridis. \n Official U.S. NAVY Photo by PH2 Aaron Peterson; Fleet Combat Camera, Atlantic.\nPhotograph cleared for public release by ENS.  Jackie Hurley, USS PHILIPPINE SEA (CG-58) Public Affairs Officer.", "Image Make": "NIKON CORPORATION", "Image Model": "NIKON D1X", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS Macintosh", "Image DateTime": "2004:11:01 09:22:35", "Image Artist": "PH2 Aaron Peterson", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "764", "GPS GPSVersionID": "[2, 2, 0, 0]", "Image GPSInfo": "1368", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1482", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "4864", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/250", "EXIF FNumber": "9", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Shutter Priority", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2003:09:06 15:05:42", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2003:09:06 15:05:42", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "4", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "CenterWeightedAverage", "EXIF LightSource": "Shade", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire", "EXIF FocalLength": "80", "EXIF SubSecTime": "23", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "23", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "23", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1680", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2100", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CVAPattern": "[0, 2, 0, 2, 2, 1, 1, 0]", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Manual", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "120", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "None", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0"}